Industrial oven wall construction



March 31, 1970 L. J. JANECEK 3,503,111

INDUSTRIAL OVEN WALL CONSTRUCTION Original Filed Dec. 21, 1962' 2 SheetsSheet 1 INVENTOR A 7'7'0RA/A-YS March 31,1970 3,503,111

INDUSTRIAL OVEN WALL CONSTRUCTION Original Filed Dec. 21, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. LOU/6" I JWA/ZCIK United States Patent O US. Cl. 29-200 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An apparatus for longitudinally crimping the joint formed between adjacent sheet metal panels having a flange portion along one side edge and a reversely bent portion along the other side edge which comprises a frame supported for movement longitudinally along the joint and complementary rolls mounted on the frame with their axes generally perpendicular to the plane of the wall. Means are provided for driving the rolls and guiding the frame along the joint.

This application is a division of my copending application Ser. No. 599,968, filed Dec. 7, 1966, now Patent No. 3,457,629, which, in turn, is a division of my application Ser. No. 246,623, filed Dec. 21, 1962, now Patent 3,303,619.

This invention relates to industrial oven wall construction and particularly to an apparatus for producing the same.

In the manufacture of industrial ovens, a major problem is the permeation of vapor through the oven wall.

It is an object of the invention to provide a novel apparatus for providing a vapor impervious joint in oven walls and the like.

Basically, the invention comprises utilizing prefabricated sheet metal panels which have a flange along one side edge thereof and a reversely bent portion along the other side edge thereof which interengages the flange of the adjacent panel. In the novel oven wall construction, an inner wall is produced with such iuterengaging panels with the joint extending outwardly. The interengaging joints of the inner wall are then longitudinally crimped between rollers which are caused to travel along the length thereof on the wall and thereby provide the vapor impervious joint. The crimping is achieved by a novel apparatus which engages the joint and travels along the joint to crimp the joint. Insulating material is then provided along the outer surface of the inner wall and an outer wall of similar interengaging panels is erected.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary sectional view through a corner of an industrial oven embodying the invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the iuterengaging panels that are used.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the vapor impervious joint formed in the oven wall in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional view of an apparatus taken along the line 4-4 in FIG. 5 for providing the vapor impervious joint showing the apparatus in operative position.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 4.

Referring to FIG. 1, the oven embodies an oven wall construction which includes an inner wall 11, an outer wall 12 and insulating material 13 interposed between the inner and outer walls 11, 12.

3,503,111 Patented Mar. 31, 1970 ICC The inner and outer walls 11, 12 are formed of identical iuterengaging sheet metal panels 14 each of which includes a central portion 15 which is generally flat and of uniform width throughout, a flange 16 bent at a right angle from the plane of the portion 15 along one longitudinal side edge of the panel 14 and a reversely bent portion 17 bent in the same direction as the flange 16 along the other longitudinal side edge of the portion 14. The reversely bent portion 17 includes an outwardly extending flange 18 and a spaced inwardly extending flange 19 defining a space 20 into which the flange 16 of the adjacent panel extends (FIG. 2).

In assembling the oven wall, the inner wall 11 is first erected with the portions of the joint iuterengaging, as shown in FIG. 2, the insulating material 13 is then applied to the outer surface of the inner wall 11 and the outer wall 12 is then erected in position. It should be understood that braces are provided along the wall as may be required. This is shown, for example, at 21, 22 in FIG. 1.

Before the insulation 13 is applied and the outer wall 12 is erected, the joints of the inner wall as defined by the iuterengaging flange 1'6 and reversely bent portions 17 are continuously longitudinally crimped intermediate their edges as at 23 (FIG. 3). This cold works the material and provides a vapor impervious joint. The crimping is achieved by the use of crimping rolls which have complementary surfaces in order to deform the material.

As shown in FIG. 4, the apparatus 25 for performing the crimping action in situ on the oven wall comprises complementary rolls 26, 27. Roll 26 includes an annular bead 27a and roll 27 includes a complementary groove 28. The rolls 26, 27 are driven in opposite directions and thereby cause the apparatus 25 to travel along the joint and crimp the joint.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, apparatus 25 comprises a hollow frame 29. A shaft 30 is journalled in the frame 29 and roll 26 is fixed on the lower end thereof. A shaft 31 is also mounted in the frame 29. As shown, the shaft 31 is journalled in an upper journal 32 and a lower journal 33. The upper journal 32 is, in turn, held in position by adjustable screws 34, 35 which engage conical depressions 36, 37 in the journal 32 to pivot shaft 31 in the frame.

The shafts 30, 31 are driven from an electric motor 38. The shaft 39 of the electric motor is connected to an intermediate shaft 40 through sprockets 41, 42 and a chain 43. The intermediate shaft 40 is coupled to the shaft 31 by a gear 44 on the intermediate shaft 40 which meshes with a gear 46 on the shaft 31. Gear 46 on the shaft 31, in turn, meshes with a gear 45 on the shaft 30'.

In order to guide the movement of the apparatus 25 along the joint, guide rollers 47 are mounted on brackets 48 fixed on the ends of the frame 29. The guide rollers are provided with grooves 47 which engage the peak or crest of the joint and guide the apparatus along the joint. Each bracket 48 is provided with a slot 48a through which a screw 49 extends into frame 29 so that each roller is vertically adjustable. The brackets are preferably adjusted such that the angle of the axes of the shafts 30, 31 are inclined soch that the rolls 26, 27 tend to travel in- Wardly toward the plane of the oven wall. This assists the apparatus in retaining the grip on the joint when it is used on a vertical as contrasted to a horizontal wall of the oven.

The apparatus is also preferably provided with a handle 50 which facilitates the placing of the apparatus into and out of position.

A spring loaded pressure screw assembly 51 is threaded into frame 29 and engages the lower journal 33 of shaft 31 to yieldingly urge the roll 27 against roll 26. As shown in FIG. 4, screw assembly 51 comprises a housing 52 having a portion 53 threaded into frame 29. A pressure member 54 is mounted within portion 53 and has a collar 55 thereon. A spring 56 is compressed between collar 55 and housing 52. By this arrangement, if rollers 26, 27 encounter any discontinuity along flange 16 and portion 17, the rollers will pass over without breakage or bending of the apparatus.

When it is desired to use the apparatus 25, it is brought into position and then the threaded shaft 31 is rotated to bring the roll 27 inwardly toward the roll 26. As previously pointed out, the guide rollers are adjusted relative to the frame 29 preferably such that the planes of the rolls 26, 27 extend downwardly toward the plane of the oven wall slightly in the direction of movement of the apparatus so that the rolls 26, 27, in effect, tend to dig in.

It can thus be seen that there has been provided a novel apparatus for making the oven Wall construction.

It can be appreciated that although the invention has particular utility when applied to an oven wall, it is also used in other wall constructions. It is believed that a novel feature of the invention is the provision of a wall by the use of prefabricated sheet metal panels and the making of the impervious joint in situ after the wall is erected.

I claim:

1. In a wall construction wherein the wall is formed of sheet metal panels having a flange portion along one side edge thereof and a reversely bent portion along the other side edge thereof into which the flange portion of the adjacent panel extends, an apparatus for longitudinally crimping the joint thereby formed in situ on the wall which comprises:

a frame,

means for supporting said frame on said panels for longitudinally extending movement along said joint, complementary rolls mounted on said frame with their axes generally perpendicular to the plane of the wall, said rolls interengaging said joints to longitudinally crimp the joints, means for driving the rolls, means for guiding the frame along the joint,

and means for adjustably positioning the axis of the rolls. 2. The combination set forth in claim 1 including means for yieldingly adjusting the pressure between the rolls comprising a pressure member for applying pressure against one of said rolls, a reaction member, spring means interposed between said pressure member and said reaction member urging said pressure member toward said one roll, and means for adjusting the position of said reaction member with respect to said frame to vary the pressure on said roll.

3. The combination set forth in claim 1 wherein said means for adjusting the axis of the rolls includes means for varying the position of said frame relative to said guide means. 7

4. In a wall construction wherein the wall is formed of sheet metal panels having a flange portion along one side edge thereof and a reversely bent portion along the other side edge thereof into which the flange portion of the adjacent panel extends, an apparatus for longitudinally crimping the joint thereby formed in situ on the wall which comprises:

a frame,

means for supporting said frame on said panels for longitudinally extending movement along said joint, complementary rolls mounted on said frame with their axes generally perpendicular to the plane of the wall, said rolls interengaging said joints to longitudinally crimp the joints, means for driving the rolls, means engaging the crest of the joint at longitudinally spaced points for guiding the frame along the joint, and means for adjustably positioning the axis of the rolls.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,159,771 5/1939 Schlicht 29-200 2,283,258 5/1942 Jensen 72-48 3,264,724 8/ 1966 Griesser 29-208 X 3,312,028 4/1967 Schroyer 29-455 X 3,346,941 10/1967 Patry et a1. 1 13-54 X 3,407,640 10/1968 Lipp 72-181 THOMAS H. EAGER, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

